Cutting back your vines? Offer them for postage or trade.

mark4321_gwOctober 6, 2012

I know this is the time of the year that many people, particularly those in more seasonal climates, cut back their vines.

I would encourage people not to toss them in the trash or compost them, but to make them available to others either unrooted or as rooted cuttings. I know that if one decides to cut back a vine today, there is not time to post the cuttings on the exchange part of the forum and expect them to reach a destination intact. Perhaps we need a thread for people to post urgent exchanges in. I don't know if this one is appropriate or if someone should start another one.

If people do want to send off cuttings, I would emphasize that dehydration is the greatest threat to their survival. I always wrap the cut end(s) with a moist paper towel or perhaps tissue and send in a ziploc bag. Perhaps I should follow up with a photo.

They do no photosynthesis and little respiration when in a box in transit. Providing them access to air dessicates them and typically kills them.

I moved and actually don't have big enough vines yet to offer them for postage. I also know a lot of people prefer not to root cuttings. However, a couple are big enough right now to propagate and do have some rooted cuttings.

Right now I have P. loefgrenii x caerulea and a smaller number of P. sanguinolenta. I just reminded myself that I had promised two of the P. sanguinolenta cuttings to someone, so that "smaller number" is just one. However, I started a bunch yesterday and I should have more soon.

P. loefgrenii x caerulea in the big cups, P. sanguinolenta in small ones:

Here's P. sanguinolenta, the first blooms about a month ago from that plant, which I bought at Annie's Annuals for $5.50.

I'll send for postage, and will send in either a box (in their "pots") or an envelope (bareroot or partially bareroot).

I will follow up here with others as I have them, maybe later this Fall. Hopefully others will post their unrooted or rooted cuttings here or start another thread.

I don't think it could be this plant, as I just bought it a month ago. I had grown a different plant several years ago. Here's the plant on Sept. 4th right after I got it from Annie's. It's actually in a 4 inch pot, stacked on top of 1 gallon pots so I could take a picture.

I just offered the remaining one P. sanguinolenta to someone I'm sending some things to. However, I started some more cuttings, as I think I mentioned.

I looked through old emails, and I think the one I mentioned hoping to propagate was P. loefgrenii. This is a plant I personally like a lot better than P. sanguinolenta. My plant in the ground, which I had assumed was about to become big, almost died mysteriously, and is limping along right now. I have another that I bought in a 4 inch pot in July (for $4, an Annie's plant at a nursery in Santa Cruz). That plant is now in a bigger pot and is growing like crazy--but also full of buds. Still, I hope to start propagating it at some point reasonably soon.

I have heard P. loefgrenii can be grown, in shade, in Florida. Many of the Passifloras I grow are strictly cool-growers. Karyn tells me P. sanguinolenta is fine with the heat.

I have the sanguinolenta in my yard here in Austin, TX. I would love to have some cuttings/ rooted of the loefgrenii x caerulea. Do you have any rooted cuttings left over of it? I guess now is not the time to take cuttings if you are out. But in that case could you keep me in mind when you do take cuttings. I can easily send you a SASE or reimburse postage .

I'm not actually sure what I have at this time that is rooted. Snails/slugs attacked what I still had rooted outside, and I don't think any of those are in good shape at this point. I did take some more cuttings on Jan. 11. Most of the leaves dropped, which could have been due to the fact it's winter. I think the cuttings rooted, though. They could be OK if they put out new growth. I'll probably try some more soon.

As far as unrooted cuttings there is always a supply. The plant doesn't seem to slow down much for winter, and the vines (my sister also has one) look really nice. Often Passifloras don't root well (or root slowly) from cuttings taken in the winter. I think it's probably more like early spring here, right now.

So maybe it would make sense to wait a month and see what I have. Perhaps that would be a better time to try unrooted cuttings, if I don't have anything rooted? Email me if I don't get back to you.

Does P. sanguinolenta overwinter in your climate? Are you zone 8a or 8b? I'm curious because there's a lot of conflicting info as to how hardy the plant is.

My neighbor gave me a hand full of cuttings and I just stuck them into a container of water. One is budding already and all are looking just fine. Most are over a foot long. I keep thinking about putting them in soil but so far it does not look like I need to do that. They set outside and because the stems are hard I never need to change the water.

wally-1936, the plant you have cuttings of appears to be Passiflora caerulea, aka "blue crown passionflower". The classic passionflower and one of the best. I know that people often root this one in water, and it can be reasonably easy. Warmth may be a factor. My guess is that you will see roots within a couple weeks as it warms up. If not be patient and/or try again and/or use perlite. Another option is to ask your neighbor if any unwanted suckers appear, and remove one with some roots. Spreading underground is considered by many to be a major drawback of this and some other species (including P. incarnata, the most familiar native species).

whiterose, one of the cuttings I rooted earlier is putting out nice new growth (all the growth on the upper right). If you are still looking for this please contact me.

I might have a couple (or more) rooted cuttings of P. edulis f. edulis; I need to check on them.

I would love a passion fruit cutting,if you have any left.My flower garden needs some vines,me and my husband just put up a ladis for our front porch and we need to get some vines with beautiful flowers and fragrant flowers going.